


Word on the Street

by kaleidomusings



Category: Bleach
Genre: Don't Judge Me, F/M, Fluff, SO MUCH FLUFF, i just love them so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 03:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7827832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaleidomusings/pseuds/kaleidomusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last thing Ichigo ever expects himself doing is share an umbrella with anyone –least of all, Inoue. Yet here he is, huddled beneath a small red umbrella with the girl in question pressed lightly against his side.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Word on the Street

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is filled with the kind of fluff that will _make your teeth rot_. Proceed with caution.

The last thing Ichigo ever expects himself doing is share an umbrella with anyone –least of all, Inoue. Yet here he is, huddled beneath a small red umbrella with the girl in question pressed lightly against his side. 

Not that he dislikes her or anything, it's actually quite the opposite. Ichigo has always been fond of Inoue, despite her eccentric personality and unusual taste in -well- absolutely everything. 

It's just that everyone has been acting strange as of late, especially in regards to her. 

In the beginning, it starts out as little teasing remarks from his friends -Renji and Rukia, in particular-, but recently it’s developed further. His father keeps asking what kind of relationship he has with Inoue and Karin is always giving him knowing glances whenever he makes any mention of her, but it isn’t until _Yuzu_ joins in on it, does Ichigo start to get feel a little weirded out. And then when Chad gives him an approving and Ishida warns him not to ever make Inoue cry, Ichigo is about ready to knock some heads in.

It feels like they all know something he doesn’t, and it's really pissing him off. 

After all, it's not like he's in love with Inoue or anything. 

He's not. 

Really. 

“Kurosaki-kun?” Inoue’s voice brings him back to the present, and he realizes that she's staring up at him with a concerned expression on her pretty face. “Are you alright?”

_I totally did not just think she’s pretty._  

“I’m fine,” Ichigo says quickly, even as his eyes soften a bit as he looks down at her. “Just thinking. It's really nothing.”

Inoue smiles and says, very simply, "I see.” She doesn't push, as if knowing that there are some things he thinks about that he doesn’t like mentioning aloud. It's actually kind of scary, how well she seems to know him. 

“Hey, Inoue?” he asks suddenly. 

“Yes, Kurosaki-kun?”

Ichigo pauses at once, unsure of how to continue. There are so many things he wanted to say, so many things he wants to ask her, but it's difficult to find the right words. Things are embarrassing enough as it is, in such close proximity with each other under this tiny umbrella. Maybe it'd be better if he changes the subject--

“Switch sides with me,” Ichigo’s mouth says, long before his brain has time to catch up to it and tell him what a horrible idea it is that he's about to put into motion. 

“What?” Inoue asks, momentarily confused by such an abrupt statement. “You mean on the sidewalk?”

Resisting the urge to kick himself, Ichigo holds the umbrella so it doesn’t leave her exposed to the rain and slips around her to put himself on the side of the road where the cars pass. He's not a little kid anymore. He's big enough to block any splashes that might come from passing cars and the like. 

“Just keep moving,” he grumbles and holds out his hand until Inoue shyly places hers in his. He gently pulls her along, but only because it's easier to keep the umbrella over them if their paces match each other, and definitely _not_ because Ichigo wants to hold her hand _._

They continue walking together in silence for a while, but neither of them seem to mind it all that much. It's the kind of silence that leaves both of them feeling comfortable and warm, even when the world around them is cold, wet, and miserable. 

And even though Ichigo will never admit it, he doesn’t hate the feeling. 

“Well,” Inoue announces cheerfully when they arrive at her front door, “Thanks for walking me home, Kurosaki-kun.”

Ichigo shrugs, because he doesn’t need to be thanked for something he wanted to do. “Here,” he says instead, holding out her umbrella to her, “You should take this with you.” 

“You can use it, Kurosaki-kun,” Inoue says, smiling, “You might catch a cold without one.” 

Under normal circumstances, Ichigo would have been uncomfortable and strangely touched by her motherly tone, but at the exact same moment a lock of her hair suddenly falls into her face, and he finds himself reaching out for it without thinking it through entirely. 

Inoue’s eyes widen in surprise, but she doesn’t pull away when he carefully tucks the strand behind her ear, his fingers grazing the softness of her cheek as it falls back at his side. 

Ichigo tries to come up with something to say, but can't seem to figure out what topic to bring up in a situation like this, and feels his heart start to beat fast when her cheeks flush red. He scrambles back further away from her, as if burnt by the realization of what he just did. “Sorry,” he says, his face burning with his own blush. 

This is all so embarrassing. 

“T-there’s no need to apologize!” Inoue says. She smiles, hesitant but sincere. “I-- That is-- It was nice.” 

It seems pointless now to try and hide his embarrassment behind a cough, but Ichigo does it anyway because he's a total idiot and wishes the ground could swallow him whole right about now. “Inoue?”

“Yes, Kurosaki-kun?” 

Ichigo pauses. It's a well-known fact that he isn’t the type for all of this kind of romantic crap -sharing umbrellas with pretty girls, for instance-, but it actually doesn't seem all that bad when he does it with Inoue. Sure, he feels a little ridiculous and he _knows_ that Rukia will never let him hear the end of it, but… But he'll worry about that later. 

“Do you have plans next Sunday?”

Because it occurs to him then that he really _is_ in love with Inoue.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't read the manga in a very long time, but when I saw posts on Tumblr that Ichihime has finally become canon, I wanted to celebrate by posting some old fics I had up on Livejournal. This one -originally titled, "The Confession"- obviously don't follow canon, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Please leave kudos and comments letting me know what you think!
> 
> And if you're interested, I'd like to write more for Ichigo and Orihime, because they're my babes and I'm so happy that they're finally together! _Praise Kubo Tite._


End file.
